


the unrelenting hands of time

by sugaquills



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Gen, Not Really Character Death, POV Alternating, POV Second Person, Photoshop Flowey, Temporary Character Death, Time Loop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 20:42:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15227499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugaquills/pseuds/sugaquills
Summary: ASGORE attacks!





	the unrelenting hands of time

ASGORE attacks!

ACT* - CHECK* TALK

ASGORE 80 ATK 80 DEF - He doesn't seem like he wants to fight.

You think that a familiar melody is playing in the background, something calm and soothing that echoes in your mind and in the room. It distracts you, for a second, and-

-something hits your SOUL, and you can feel the burning heat of a fireball-

-it s h a t t e r s, breaking into a million pieces, and a voice you recognise as Asgore's tells you to stay determined-

-and then time runs backwards and you're waiting to die again.

 

ASGORE attacks!

ACT* - CHECK* TALK

ASGORE 80 ATK 80 DEF - Something about Asgore seems sad. Maybe he knows he's killed you before.

ACT* - CHECK TALK*

You tell Asgore that you don't want to fight. You tell Asgore that he has killed you once before. He nods sadly, but raises his hand and another wave of fire descends over you. Your SOUL can barely move, but you manage to dodge it, until your SOUL is bruised but still intact.

You try to talk to Asgore. His hands shake, his breathing stutters, and you're so distracted that you barely notice the spear that hits your SOUL.

Time runs backwards. The cycle begins again.

 

ASGORE attacks!

ACT* - CHECK* TALK

ASGORE 80 ATK 80 DEF - His hands tremble when he looks at you. You wonder why.

ITEM* - TemFlakes - Butterscotch Pie*

Your SOUL is still bruised from the last fight, so you inhale the pie and smile. It's still warm, somehow, its crust flaky and the filling sweet and delicious. The smell wafts across the room - when Asgore breathes in, the smell reaches him, and some sort of recognition flies across his face in the span of a second.

The latest round of fire drastically misses you and you studiously look at Asgore. He seems sadder, all of a sudden, lost in the memory of a distant past he can barely remember-

-the spear crashes down. Your SOUL breaks into pieces and falls to the floor around your cold body.

And time runs backwards.

 

ASGORE attacks!

And this time, you fight back. You don't bother to explain what happened, like you did every time before, just going in for the kill. Sans' warning speech does not affect you, not now, not with the memory of your death so fresh.

When he collapses in front of you, barely clinging to life, you find a small bit of mercy in your SOUL. You spare him, and smile, and give him forgiveness.

And he is dusted.

And then, you die too.

 

FLOWEY attacks!

You die.

 

FLOWEY attacks!

You die.

 

FLOWEY attacks!

You die.

 

FLOWEY attacks!

And you die. Die die die die die _die die die die **die die die die DIE---**_

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

Six SOULs are living inside a monstrous being of godlike power. The brave one tries to fight back, but the others are quelled easily, and against the might of six other SOULs, Bravery can barely stand up against the BEING. They just hope they can continue fighting back long enough for the others.

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

The kind one will always try to soothe the situation - that is how they were in life, and how they are in death, too. They try to stop the others from fighting, and yet they are easily quelled by the violent spirits of the others.

They want to fight back. But they cannot.

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

Patience counts. _Un, deux, trois..._ They focus on the feeling of calm that washes over them. _Quatre, cinq, six..._ They try to ignore the feeling of desperation emanating from the others, and the pull of the BEING on their SOUL. _Sept, huit, neuf..._ Patience counts.

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

Integrity pirouettes around the vines of the BEING that tries to hold them close. No longer do ballet shoes cover their feet - no longer do they move freely, arms held high over their head as they spin past their parents. No longer does their old tutu cover their SOUL and protect them from damage. Instead, they are reliant on their old grace and movement, and the cold cruelty that once let them dip and kill so easily is long gone.

Integrity finds that they rather like this new state of being, even as they twirl past another set of vines.

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

Justice once held a gun in their hands. Justice was once a bitter, revenge driven kid who let their anger control them and took it out on the monsters before them when they fell. Seeing this BEING using their own bullets against them, when their only hope of not being shattered is to run, Justice regrets.

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

Perseverance thinks. So long as they focus on the words that swim around them, the aching loneliness, anything but the BEING and how they come closer to stealing them away. Perseverance tries to ignore the crushing negativity pressing down on them. And they persevere.

 

FLOWEY attacks!

 

You die. Time runs backwards. It begins again.

You live. Time runs forwards. It ends.

 

ASGORE attacks!


End file.
